Pre-race: The Galveston course on paper looks pretty easy (for a 70.3 distance race) but there is one factor that can make or break the race – the WIND. I knew this coming in so I was watching the conditions throughout the week. There first day we arrived and road on course the wind was pretty mild the next day it was insane. Luckily, on race day the wind was a little more in the mild side and temps were pleasant so all was good (or so I thought). I was feeling great and ready to race – I had felt fresh all week which I think was due to a change in how we are tapering me into 70.3 races this season with a little more “easing into” taper week vice a huge drop off. In terms of logistics this race is pretty fantastic if you stay at Moody Gardens – everything is right there and easily accessible which means I’ll probably be down to do this race again next season with the little one. I met up with fellow Wattie Ron Schmidt the day before the race for a run course pre-review and everything was in good working order. Looking forward to meeting the rest of the Wattie squad throughout the season. Major props to Moxie Multisport crew out of Austin for letting me borrow a race kit – these guys and gals were frickin awesome and rocking it out with a lot of energy on the run course.
Race Strategy: My fitness was in really good shape based upon a good showing at an Olympic distance a few weeks ago so the goal here was to race FTW. This was the first flat 70.3 course I have raced on in a long long time so not a lot to plan for other than potential windy conditions on the bike and constant pedaling/effort. I’ve been on the trainer almost exclusively all winter so I wasn’t really worried about the constant pedaling with no breaks – oh little did I know what was lurking ahead. My swim is still way behind where it needs to be but improving slowly but surely. Given this, we decided to use the swim as a warm-up (not going anaerobic) to a very strong bike effort and then try to close the deal on the run. Played out different scenarios depending on the wind direction but basically try and use the power I can push on the bike to my advantage to close the gap to the guys off the front out of the water and then put in a sub-1:20 run. I’ve gone away from racing strictly by watts but we decided that it was a good idea for me to ride my target 70.3 watts (330-40w) for this race given the unpredictable wind and flat course. Same race morning set up as always, woke up 3 hours early to eat, relax a bit, set up transition and then off to swim start.
Swim: Target: 27-28:00 Actual time: 31:06. Garmin had the course at 2.15km.
Conditions: Water temp was a bit chilly at 65F and looked to be a bit of current and light chop in the water as well (thank god we were swimming in a protected inlet and not the Gulf).
My Helix wasn’t in yet but Ryan from BlueSeventy was kind enough to loan me a Reaction which worked nicely. 2 very large M30-34 waves of which I was the second (hate this set up). Pretty much the same as every other 70.3 swim – lots of contact and muscling around for about 200-400M and then things settled down a bit and I was able to get into a rhythm. Just picked a steady pace and kept with it reminding myself to focus on form and a strong pull. The first leg felt like we were swimming into the current. We made the turn and things broke up considerably and I was able to get clean water and a good line as we started swimming up on the first M30-34 wave. I was pretty much swimming by myself at this point which kind of sucked and never found any feet the entire race. The course started to seem very long and the orange buoys felt like they were never going to end, finally hit the second red turn buoy and into the Colonel’s paddle boat. A little disappointed with a 31:06 on the watch but the swim felt long and I wasn’t gassed so all was good. No clue how far back I am off the front but time to put in some work on the bike.
T1: Nothing fancy here – get the HR down, wetsuit off and onto the Scott Plasma to put in some work.
Bike: Target: 2:10-15 Actual Time: 2:28:54
Conditions: 70F, humid, partly cloudy and headwind in both directions
I got a chance to ride the course ahead of time in mild and super windy conditions so had a good idea of what to expect in either scenario. I felt great coming out of T2 so it was on like donkey kong – time to close the gap to the front. There was a slight headwind on the way out but nothing too crazy and was able to comfortably ride my watts around 330w and average 25-26MPH. I was making up a lot of time quickly by the turn. Got a look at Wil Emery and Reilly Smith and figured I was maybe 4min back so everything was going as planned. Followed my nutrition plan spot on, energy was steady and constant, HR and breathing wasn’t controlled. I was executing the race plan to perfection. Made the turn and the tailwind I thought I was going to have turned into a stronger headwind than we had on the way out but no worries. I was feeling amazing and just stuck to the plan – ride watts and take in nutrition on my intervals. I was on target for a 2:08-10 bike split which would have put me right in the mix FTW. Around mile 35 my glutes started to get a little tight so got out of the saddle every few minutes to stretch but no fatigue or drift. What I wasn’t expecting was a complete lock up of my glutes and excruciating pain at mile 45. I almost crashed but was able to pull over and somehow clip out. It was all I could muster to get my leg over the top tube. At this point the pain was so intense I was dead set on a DNF – I physically could not get back on the bike. I slowly watched everyone I had just passed and put 5-10min into pass me on the side of the road in agony. NOT A FUN EXPERIENCE. All I could think about was how embarrassed I was going to be having to DNF my first race of the season. Finally the race support vehicle comes by and doesn’t stop. WTF!! Now, I’m left with 2 options – hitch hike a ride back to T2 or wait until the pain subsides and try to ride the 10 miles back to transition. After about 15min the pain started to subside slightly and I was able to get back on the bike and ride easy out of the saddle back to T2. The glutes loosened up a bit on the ride back so now I had to make a decision – DNF or try and run myself back into the race. My garmin had me still able to go 4:15-20 if I ran well so I said screw let’s see how it goes and try to get back in the race (little did I know my garmin stopped for a while when I stopped on the side of the road and was off by 8minutes).
T2: My legs felt okay but a little tight/sore so gathered myself for what I knew would be a mentally taxing run and off I went.
Run: Target 1:16 Actual Time: 1:22:53
My original run goal was to come out of T2 at a 6:00/mile pace and work into a 5:40-50 pace within the first 1.5 miles then hold atleast 5:50 pace throughout with a kick at the end. I knew from training and racing over the past few months that 5:40 was do-able if I was feeling great but I was far from great after what just happened on the bike so the revised goal was to run at a moderate pace that would allow me to not blow apart but still move back up through the field (I was still working on the presumption of a 4:15-20 finish time at this point). I came out a little fast at 5:38 pace for the first few miles then eased back and ran comfortably the remainder of the race. The Moxie Multisport crew was providing some awesome run course support and pumping up all the racers - they brought me back from the dead on each loop. Kellen's "W" speedo was an absolute trip!! Texas is a 3 loop run which is kind of nice but also has a ton of sharp turns which slows the run speed considerably – makes it hard to settle into a good steady tempo. With 2500 participants on a 3 loop course I was really surprised how spread out everyone was. The RD and volunteers did a great job at spacing aid stations so they weren’t overly crowded and at no point did I ever feel packed in on the run course. The first 2 laps went relatively well and by the 3rd lap I wasn’t feeling all that great but was able to hold it together and finish just under 4:20 but…. WAIT FOR IT, WAIT FOR IT. My actual time was 4:27:53 – somehow my watched had stopped when I got off my bike and I didn’t realize it.
So, after a scary episode on the bike and a 60min trip to the med tent for an IV post-race I was pretty bummed to learn my time was much slower than expected. On the bright side, I was happy to finish and get the 70.3 fitness in despite the day’s setbacks. Not exactly what I set out to do on the day but sometimes things just don’t play out as planned and you have re-group and move onto the next race. Still not sure whether the smarter option would have been to DNF on the bike but my competitive drive probably got the best of me here. On to the next one… 4 weeks until St. Croix and a shot at Kona….
